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Private-Public Opinion Discrepancy
- Source :
- PLoS ONE, Vol 15, Iss 11, p e0242148 (2020), PLoS ONE, PLoS ONE, 15(11):e0242148. PUBLIC LIBRARY SCIENCE
- Publication Year :
- 2020
- Publisher :
- Public Library of Science (PLoS), 2020.
-
Abstract
- In many Western societies there are rising concerns about increasing polarization in public debate. However, statistics on private attitudes paint a different picture: the average attitudes in societies are more moderate and remain rather stable over time. The present paper presents an agent-based model of how such discrepancies between public opinion and private attitudes develop at the scale of micro-societies. Based on social psychological theorizing, the model distinguishes between two types of agents: a) those seeking to gain or maintain a good reputation and status, and b) those seeking to promote group harmony by reaching consensus. We characterized these different types of agents by different decision rules for either voicing their opinion or remaining silent, based on the behavior of their proximal network. Results of the model simulations show that even when the private attitudes of the agents are held constant, publicly expressed opinions can oscillate and (depending on the reputational concerns of individual actors) situations can occur in which minorities as well as majorities are silenced. We conclude that the macro-level consequences of micro-level decisions to either voice an opinion or remain silent provide a foundation for better understanding how public opinions are shaped. Moreover, we discuss the conditions under which public opinion could be considered a good representation of private attitudes in a society.
- Subjects :
- Culture
Public debate
Social Sciences
050109 social psychology
Public opinion
Community Networks
Systems Science
Agent-Based Modeling
Sociology
Psychological Attitudes
050602 political science & public administration
Psychology
DISSENT
Behavior
Computer Simulation
Consensus
Decision Making
Emigration and Immigration
Humans
Internet
Models, Statistical
Netherlands
Peer Group
Social Support
Social Theory
Societies
United States
Attitude
Public Opinion
Social Media
media_common
Multidisciplinary
Simulation and Modeling
05 social sciences
SUCCESS
POLICY
0506 political science
Social Networks
Social system
Physical Sciences
Social Systems
Medicine
Social psychology
Network Analysis
Reputation
Social theory
Research Article
Computer and Information Sciences
Social Psychology
media_common.quotation_subject
Science
MODELS
Research and Analysis Methods
Political science
0501 psychology and cognitive sciences
Social media
ATTITUDES
business.industry
System Stability
Polarization (politics)
Biology and Life Sciences
Peer group
business
Mathematics
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 19326203
- Volume :
- 15
- Issue :
- 11
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- PLoS ONE
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....669afa7468c3aa43a01212ecf2410d99